An Australian political party, formed in 1957 from anti-communist groups which had formerly been part of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The DLP was largely centred in Victoria, and drew most of its support from parts of the Catholic section of Australian society. At its height, in the late 1950s and through the 1960s, its importance lay in its ability to prevent the ALP from winning national government. Its policies were strongly anti-communist and pro-defence, and incorporated elements of Catholic teaching on social matters. No DLP representative has been elected to the national parliament since 1974.
The Democratic Labor Party (DLP) is a minor political party in Australia that espouses social conservatism.
History
The Democratic Labor Party was formed as a result of a split in the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in 1954. The Catholic wing of the ALP was alarmed at what they saw as the growing power of the Communist Party in the trade unions, and had formed units within the unions called Industrial Groups to combat the Communists.
The intellectual leader of the Victorian Catholic wing of the ALP (although not actually a party member) was B.A. At the Hobart national conference of the ALP, Santamaria's parliamentary supporters in the federal and Victorian parliaments were expelled from the ALP. They then formed a group called the ALP (Anti-Communist), which in 1955 became the DLP.
The split soon extended to the Victorian state parliament, where a faction of Movement supporters crossed the floor to bring down the ALP state government of John Cain. He and his followers formed the Queensland Labor Party, which became part of the DLP in 1960.
Between 1955 and 1974 the DLP was able to command a significant vote, particularly in Victoria and Queensland, and during the period held between one and five seats in the Senate (which is elected by proportional representation). Since the ALP and the conservative parties usually held approximately equal numbers of seats in the Senate, the DLP was able to use balance of power in the Senate to extract concessions from Liberal governments, particularly government grants to Catholic schools, greater spending on defence and non-recognition of the People's Republic of China.
During this period the DLP also exercised influence by directing its second-preference votes to Liberal candidates in federal and state elections (see Australian electoral system), thus helping to keep the ALP out of office at the federal level and in Victoria. The DLP vote gradually declined during the 1960s but remained strong enough for the Liberals to continue to need DLP preferences to win close elections.
The DLP's policies were traditional Labor policies such as more spending on health, education and pensions, combined with strident opposition to Communism and emphasis for greater defence spending. During the 1960s the DLP became strong opponents of "permissiveness," campaigning on issues such as homosexuality, abortion and pornography and drugs, which appealed to many conservative voters as well as the party's base among Catholics.
After Evatt's retirement in 1960, his successor Arthur Calwell, a Catholic, tried to bring about a reconciliation between the ALP and the DLP. Negotiations were conducted through intermediaries, but neither the ALP nor its affiliated trade unions would agree to the DLP's terms, which would have made the ALP a much more conservative party.
The election of the Whitlam ALP government in 1972 brought the DLP's strategy of keeping the ALP out of power undone.
A New DLP
A small group of DLP activists in Victoria refused to accept the dissolution of the party and formed a new DLP, which has contested Senate elections in Victoria at every election since 1980 but has never gained representation.
At the 2004 Federal Election, the DLP received 58,042 first preference, or .49% of all votes, for Victorian representation in the Senate.
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